Women Politicians In Malawi

"The ruling DPP is accusing me of helping the MCP candidate Desmond Bikoko to win the mayor’s elections of Lilongwe city."

"It’s true that I am in hiding, this is because some DPP senior officials are on my life. They said I am the one who helped the MCP candidate Desmond Bikoko to win the mayor’s election."

"I will pay greater attention to street lighting maintenance."

"Lilongwe City residents should expect change and I would like to plead with them that by and by we will form the Lilongwe City Friends, everybody who is concerned with Lilongwe City will be coming here and sitting down together and strategize on how we can improve our city."

"I made the decision to contest following requests by traditional leaders and the people who voted for me in the 2014 elections."

"During the primary elections only 1,300 people voted but Zomba Central Constituency has over 40,000 registered voters therefore 1,300 people cannot speak for the 40,000 people."

"I explained plans to develop Zomba City by continuing with the construction of new roads and building new schools, developing Gymkhana Club into an Olympics Centre and expanding Zomba City boundaries among others."

"We feel there is a conspiracy against things that have made Zomba a city. This conspiracy is through a systemic reversal of key social activities that we have been associated with."

"First, it was the removal of parliament, I therefore urge the President to spend some time in Zomba so that he can fully appreciate the social and economic dynamics in the city."

"This is a crisis that government needs to sort out immediately. Otherwise, the gains made in areas such as maternal health and HIV will be quickly eroded."

"People living in Zomba and surrounding areas should take the responsibility of planting trees, flowers to restore the lost glory of the district."

"I am still available, watching with keen interest. If the current government fails, I will certainly stand as a presidential candidate in the next elections."

"I think the first month I want to recover and find the Martha who was the Martha before June 1, 2021, because I need her back."

"I am happy that I have been appointed as the ACB director but that is only the first hurdle as Parliament have to confirm the appointment. For now, let us wait until the appointment is duly confirmed. If given the honour to serve Malawians in this role, I am ready do what my job entails me to."

"The judge has already been bribed. We knew before going to court, the case was on Friday but we knew by Wednesday that something was wrong."

"We are cooperating with our UK partners but this matter is still under investigation and I cannot provide any more details. It is unsurprising that the case is not moving."

"I still do charity work. I formed a community based organisation called Dzidalire. It is in Ntcheu and Dedza. We want to have it in all three regions. It started when a certain community asked me for help. I asked them what the most important thing was in this country. They said food. Then I advised them to start planting trees in their area. Previously Chitukuko Cha Amayi M’Malawi (CCAM) planted trees in that area, but over the years people cut or burnt them down and cultivated the land. We then raised funds for the project."

"I have problems with my back, that’s why I walk with a stick. It is Arthritis that affects the vertebrae. You can’t bend for hours. I need to time it. I always say thanks to the Lord, despite Arthritis, He has given me good health."

"We have plans to build a big maternity hospital. We just need to secure funding. That way is how I keep myself busy while helping others. I still work with Malawi Against Physical Disabilities. So, I write individuals in different countries to secure equipment for those with disabilities even for those in big hospitals. I also do a lot of farming in Mchinji, where I grow seed maize and beans (kholophethe). There are two villages where we look after orphans. So whatever we grow especially maize and soya beans, we donate to these kids."

"I had a very good upbringing; my parents were very strict and loving as well as disciplinarians. My parents always stressed one point that everyone is equal to each other. I am a staunch Catholic member."

"It is not a long-time ago that I decided to venture into politics. Just last year, it was when politics crossed my mind. I never liked politics even when I was a first lady, the time I was at state house. I remember telling my then husband that, joining politics was not my priority."

"I would not even encourage young ones to think that being a first lady is a career. Being first lady is just as well as being a house wife. I wonder why people think that my being a Member of Parliament is a demotion. Is it because I am a woman? Take for instance, people like former vice-president Khumbo Kachali, who is now a Member of Parliament. Can you tell me that this is a demotion? I don’t really care what people will always say about me. I thank God for the promotion."

"I would like to work together with the councilor in my area to make sure that we make a difference in the constituency. I will make sure to look at the needs of the people from Balaka West. There are a lot of challenges that need to be addressed. The first thing I would like to see is that people have clean water and that a government hospital is constructed. I will help in passing of laws that shall make our country heaven on earth."

"I enjoyed my life as I played the role of first lady to the fullest. I learnt a lot and, through the Freedom Foundation, I was able to help a lot of needy people. When I was the first lady I was able to interact with people at all levels."

"I have fond memories of Zomba as I spent four years of my secondary school at St Marys and that time it looked greener and Zomba used to be so beautiful. However, things have changed now."

"If you walk around the district nowadays you will see so many people coming down the mountains carrying charcoal and firewood, and when I see this I ask myself if we will have trees in time to come,” wondered Mutharika."

"We’re incredibly excited about this."

"I am doing this because I have experience on challenges which these girls go through. I am a living example, that is why am doing this work from my heart."

"No government institution has funded this event, the government has only sponsored the venue for the launch."

"I am very happy to hear that the Spotlight Initiative, which is a partnership between the EU and UN has registered tremendous results in six districts since its inception. I do hope that the good practices in these six districts will trickle down and impact the lives of girls in the other districts as well."

"Climate change has really exacerbated child marriages in most least developed countries (LDCs), including Malawi. We need to put into action different commitments made to mitigate the impacts of climate change. It is encouraging to note that Malawi has included climate change as a priority in its long-term development strategy, the Malawi Vision 2063"

"Men have been dominating Malawi politics for too long. Maybe that's why they are blundering. But I think that if a woman can come up, she would improve a lot of things"

"In most cases, our singing, like in the woman's league, we would take some of the songs sung in the villages, then we put in political words to suit the occasion... There wasn't any particular person at that time, that this was the one who composed those songs for us to sing. No, it was just general singing. Just as we are here. You could start a song, and our songs in most cases, our African songs, they are traditional. They are not difficult to sing. We could easily pick it up, and then we would all sing"

"I had this feeling ... women should be part and parcel of the whole movement, even of running the country. Women should be involved in decision making. That was my aim."

"You know, we are the mothers. We are the ones who bring out children and these children are employed by Wenela [in South Africa] at that time. They go to Wenela and most of them die there. They don't come back alive. And then there's a lot of oppression. There's this thangata and with that federation, unfortunately for them, that time, they had already started removing people in the areas where they thought it was best for Europeans or it was best for farming ... They wanted to make room for Europeans to settle. I said, you can see all these things. Now, we are being removed in our rural areas. We are being pushed here and there. And the women understood. They said, oh yes, then we must do something."

"Actually I did not withdraw, I stepped down. Many people in Malawi asked me to stand; it was under that pressure that I decided to declare myself an independent presidential candidate. But later the church saw the opposition was not very strong, so they decided to form a coalition. We needed a change of government, for many reasons.... There were nine parties at the time, so the church advised me not to stand, because I was going to divide the votes. So I applied to join the coalition."

"Unlike all the others, I satisfied all the conditions to be their presidential candidate but I hear they rejected me when they discussed my application. They were afraid of me. Here in Malawi we are still chauvinistic."

"Where I was voting there was peace, people voted freely. I am president of Women's Voice and director of the Malawi Centre for Advice, Research and Education on Rights. We participate in voter education and we also do monitoring. All the information I received from my own offices told me the elections have been almost peaceful."

"If you educate your girl, you will have everything in the future."

"When girls are educated, everything is possible."

"As their Member of Parliament, I had to make an informed choice, either to serve their interest or the interest of the party."

"Africa needs visionary and transformative that can always incorporate views of women and provide them with a conducive environment for their participation in developing the region."

"In order to encourage more women participation in leadership and government, the world should give them the support they require and create space for them."

"Women play important roles in their community such as nurturing and taking care of their families and community members which makes them loyal and dependable citizens of their nations."

"Women contribute significantly to the development agenda of their nations because they all make decisions that mould children and give life and society existence."

"There is need for the women to work together in collaboration with men and integrate young women into leadership."

"Right now, I am an Independent member who will able to speak in Parliament without fear or favour, affection or ill-will and this is in line with the oath of office that I swore."

"Most African women are taught to endure abusive marriages. They say endurance means a good wife but most women endure abusive relationship because they are not empowered economically, they depend on their husbands."

"I'm indeed a mandasi seller, and I'm proud of it, because the majority of women in Malawi are like us, mandasi sellers."

"It is important that women’s needs, aspirations and realities become central drivers of policies and programmes to increase maternal health care access and utilisation."